Very early Count of Monte Cristo
DUMAS, Alexandre. Le Comte de Monte-Cristo ... Publié per le Siècle [Supplément au Journal Le Siècle, Œuvres complètes]. Paris: Bureaux du Journal Le Siècle. 28 September 1845 – 1 February 1846 [title page: 1846].
4to. Contemporary quarter calf and marbled boards, flat spine gilt and blind ruled in compartments, lettered directly in gilt, marbled endpapers; pp. [4], 408; boards slightly rubbed, extremities a little worn, slight damage to foot of spine and lower hinge; some occasional light foxing, a few marks, pp 397-398 cropped at head affecting running titles only; generally very good; occasional "Timbre Royal Seine 6 c." tax stamps to lower edges.
Second feuilleton edition, published as a supplement to the Parisian newspaper Le Siècle, and one of the very first editions of Le Comte de Monte-Cristo.
Serialised as the first volume of the Oeuvres complètes d’Alexandre Dumas in the supplement to Le Siècle, this edition was published partway through the serialisation of Le Comte de Monte-Cristo in the newspaper Le Journal des Débats, the novel’s true first edition, which ran from 28 August 1844 to 15 January 1846. Le Siècle began a second serialisation on 28 September 1845, issuing one part per week for 18 weeks, before concluding the novel on 1 February 1846, just two weeks after Le Journal des Débats finished its run, with a single, large instalment that included the novel’s final two-thirds.
The volume is complete with its title page (dated 1846), a table of contents, and the story of "François Picaud", from which Dumas drew inspiration for the plot of Le Comte de Monte-Cristo. Although the title page (published later) correctly spells "Monte-Cristo", the titles and headings of the instalments spell it "Monte-Christo", as also shown on the book’s spine.
Parallel to the serialisations in Le Journal des Débats and Le Siècle, four Brussels publishers (Alph. Lebègue, Meline, C. Muquardt, and Société belge de librairie Hauman) and two Parisian publishers (Pétion and Baudry) issued book editions. These publishers simply copied the text as it appeared in Le Journal des Débats, picking up the novel a few months into its serialisation. Each publisher produced at least one edition that more or less kept pace with the publication in Le Journal des Débats.
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